Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. – John Heywood, sixteenth-century English poet

A quick post before I decide there’s too many other things to do, which has been my state of mind for the last week. I sit here smelling of sunscreen and the outdoors, having just come in from a run with the puppy. She loved every bit of it (with the exception of storm drains, which frighten her), while I cannot say the same for myself , as there’s been too many cookies and not enough runs lately. But hopefully that will change with the cooler weather.

One of my first short stories, “The Bringing Moon,” was just published in the new magazine “The Colored Lens,” and the first e-book is available here. I’m so happy it found a home – that story was always special to me, inspired by my relationship with my little sister when we were much, much younger.

I have about four critiques to give, and my own words for today, so this will be short. Somehow, it’s been more do-able to tackle Harvester the book rather than the eight stories I have to revise/rewrite, both from Clarion and earlier. Usually I have such a hard time writing new stuff – it’s the revision process I love. But not right now, when I struggle to find motivation and encouragement amidst the slim statistics of markets and the knowledge that I still have so unbelievably far to go.

Clarion 2012 instructors have been announced: Jeffrey Ford, Marjorie Liu, Ted Chiang, Walter Jon Williams, Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. No reason not to apply – it’s so worth it. There’s so much I’ve intended to blog about regarding Clarion – the 4 hours of critting and class in the mornings, the 4-6 hours of writing the story for the week in the afternoon (solitary, for me – I cannot write with other people in the same room), the evenings of more critting/writing/socializing, the pros, the cons, the inbetweens, and everything I learned, but I’m still letting it all sink in. Regular life is again taking over, although I spent most of August and September feeling sad that I no longer had the communion of my Clarion class, nor those long, beautiful uninterrupted hours to write. Now I have to get up at 5 am or earlier if I’m going to get a good chunk of writing in, which is as hard as it sounds. But how much I have learned, which is invaluable, and I wouldn’t trade that even for the disappointment of it all ending.

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8 Responses to “Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. – John Heywood, sixteenth-century English poet”

Erin, you never said anything about ‘Bringing Moon’ being published! I’m so happy for you – it was one of the first stories of yours I ever read and I’ve always loved it. Great news!

It’s interesting that you say – “Usually I have such a hard time writing new stuff – it’s the revision process I love” – as I am the complete opposite. I love writing new things, but revision is a total nightmare for me. I procrastinate like crazy, leave stories in first draft state for over a year before looking at them. I’m working on it, but I really struggle with it.

Thanks, Ilan! It just happened a few days ago, and I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to do much since then except keep my head together.

I imagine it’s possible we might go back and forth on these two things throughout the rest of our lives…perhaps it’s story-related, too? For example, I love love love writing first draft books – just going with it. But stories, I struggle hard, which is why revising works so much better for me. Until now.

I get the impression everyone (fragments) is pretty busy at the moment. Real life has a habit of doing that. I’m feeling better about my own work – managing to write something every day, but there’s a lot of work to do, and little reward.

Definitely story-related, in terms of new writing/revision, I reckon, as I often find revision so much easier and quicker when it’s a story I’m excited about and happy with.

For sure. And I really need to get better about my 250 daily, or more days than not. Today it took me 9 hours before I could make myself do it, but then suddenly I had 500 words and they were fun, and I’m thinking about the next 500. So, good, I suppose!

I miss you, too! Now that wedding nonsense is over it’s great to be back in the real world and catching up. I will use you for inspiration as I attempt to eat fewer cookies, get more exercise, and work off all that honeymoon eating.